One of my most recent posts on LinkedIn that generated the most engagement was one sentence long. Here's what I wrote:
If you have a culture problem you have a leadership problem.
The post generated 27,000 views and more than 600 people reacted to it. Those are decent numbers for someone like me who is not a LinkedIn celebrity.
My recent decision to go all-in on executive coaching instead of organizational culture transformation was driven in large part by the realization I kept having every time I got on a plane to fly home (pre-Covid) or logged off of a meeting (last 12 months).
Leaders determine everything. Call it "the power of one." If a team lacks engagement, look at the leader. If a team struggles with blame, look at the leader. If teams don't trust each other, look at the leaders. If there's an exceptional customer or patient experience, look at the leader.
When I hear senior executives complain about something going on in the mindset of their people I always know it's due to a leader somewhere doing something that's creating or enabling the problem.
Evaluate Your Impact
Here's something you might consider doing. Consider one thing that drives you nuts about the current mindset or actions of your team, or a team a level or two below you.
Write down a short statement that captures that current mindset or behavior. Now, consider what you, or their direct leader, could possibly be doing that is leading to that kind of thinking or behavior. Let me give you a few examples...
We were working with two hospitals in the same city owned by the same company. One had exceptional patient satisfaction scores. The other did not. A senior executive wanted us to find out why. Part of our discovery phase involved our team interviewing two dozen employees at each hospital. These were 20-30 minute interviews with everyone from dietitians to nurses to physicians to environmental services employees (the cleaning crew).
One of the questions we asked each person was "what is the biggest obstacle to higher patient satisfaction scores here?" In the hospital that had low scores every single person did not hesitate when we asked that question. They all said the problem was not enough staffing. There just weren't enough nurses and employees to give patients the level of service they desired.
At the hospital a few miles away we heard a very different response to the question. Everyone struggled to come up with a response. They hesitated. Looked around the room. Thought for a few moments and then offered an idea of what might be holding back the scores from being even higher.
Both hospitals had the exact same ratio of staffing to patients. Yet one surrendered in their effort to get better results because a narrative had developed that justified the poor performance.
We asked the leadership team of the higher performing hospital why no one at their facility had complained to us about staffing levels. Their response was powerful. "We told them there's no calvary coming. There is no group of knights on horseback headed over the hill to come rescue us and solve our problems. We have to achieve higher patient scores with who we have," they said.
Wow! One hospital's leaders were focused on solutions with current staffing levels while the other one helped create - or allow to exist - a narrative that blamed poor performance on not having enough people.
Manage the Narrative
The energy level of a team matches the energy level of its leader. The same is true for urgency. Ditto for collaboration. The list goes on and on.
Whatever you need more or less of on your team begins with you. Consider how you, as the leader, can shift the mindset or behavior by the experiences you're creating. Often, it's what we're not doing - or actively managing - that creates our challenge.
This is something you shouldn't consider or tackle on your own. Get the insight of a coach or mentor. Their perspective and experience will prove invaluable. You need someone who is not sitting in your current seat to share what they're seeing as they hear your problem and watch your team.
You'll also want to involve your leadership team. Bring up the shift in mindset or behavior you're wanting to make on the team and see if your leader are aligned. Do they see what you're seeing? Do they think it's a priority? What do they think you all should do to lead the team to think or act differently?
Start there. Start by taking ownership of your role in the current mindset and actions. If you own part of the problem then you can be part of the solution.
P.S. Are you subscribed to my podcast? If not, check it out! Listen to my recent interview with Jon Gordon or my episode about determining your Leadership Identity. We're thrilled to be one of Apple's Top 200 Podcasts!
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